Mikulski

Sen. Barbara Mikulski formally threatened to filibuster a bill to overhaul the U.S. Postal Service because of concerns she has about the proposed closing of Easton's mail processing center, the Maryland Democrat's office said Thursday. The bipartisan bill would allow the Postal Service to end Saturday delivery and offer buyouts to employees. It would not affect the Easton plant directly, but because the U.S. Postal Service supports the measure, Mikulski is hoping to use it as leverage.

President Barack Obama will visit Baltimore on Friday for a fundraiser intended to help Democrats defend their Senate majority, a White House official said today. Obama, who last spent time in the city in May 2013, will attend a fundraiser to benefit the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Details of the event were not immediately available. The president has stepped up fundraising this year ahead of the November midterm elections, including for vulnerable Senate incumbents.

Noting that student loan debt in the U.S. has ballooned to roughly $1 trillion, Sens. Barbara A. Mikulski and Ben Cardin spoke with students at Bowie State University on Thursday to draw attention to a proposal Democrats will push next week to allow borrowers to refinance their student loans. "In this country you can refinance a yacht but you can't refinance your student loan," Mikulski said. "We want students to have a fair shot at lowering their debt interest rates. " The bill, which would allow people to refinance federal and private loans issued before 2010 at a rate below 4 percent, is not likely to gain much traction in this Congress.

Noting that student loan debt in the U.S. has ballooned to roughly $1 trillion, Sens. Barbara A. Mikulski and Ben Cardin spoke with students at Bowie State University on Thursday to draw attention to a proposal Democrats will push next week to allow borrowers to refinance their student loans. "In this country you can refinance a yacht but you can't refinance your student loan," Mikulski said. "We want students to have a fair shot at lowering their debt interest rates. " The bill, which would allow people to refinance federal and private loans issued before 2010 at a rate below 4 percent, is not likely to gain much traction in this Congress.

The Chesapeake Bay and our coastal areas have always been a staple of Maryland. Throughout the years, I've witnessed the literal and figurative ebb and flow of the tides in hopes that someone would take the initiative to protect the future of our state's abundant fishing and recreational opportunities. I believe that the recently introduced Fisheries Investment and Regulatory Relief Act of 2012 (FIRRA) would provide the funding needed to ensure that our rich Maryland fishing traditions remain strong and our coastal communities continue to be a place for Maryland residents and visitors to enjoy.

Maryland's senators continue to show they follow in lockstep with the Obama administration and not with the majority of the populace's views. The latest evidence comes from their votes against Arizona's right to enforce immigration laws by allowing Justice Department funds to be used in the lawsuit against the state. The vote prevented a floor vote on Sen. Jim DeMint's (R-S.C.) amendment to the unemployment extension bill making its way through Congress. The amendment would have blocked funding to the Justice Department from being used in its lawsuit against Arizona.

Updated with comments from Harris and Bartlett. In a rare intra-delegation, across-the-aisle nudge, Sen.Barbara A. Mikulskion Tuesday called on the state's two Republican lawmakers in Washington to support a Senate version of an overhaul of theU.S. Postal Servicethat would save a pair of mail sorting facilities that just happen to be located in the lawmakers' districts. The move instantly put Republican Reps. Andy Harris and Roscoe Bartlett on defense, forcing them to either support the bipartisan Senate version of the postal legislation -- which is not popular with Republican House leaders -- or acknowledge that the Postal Service must be allowed to trim costs and close plants, even if the cuts are made in their own districts.

A proposal to expand equal-pay protections for female workers sponsored by Sen. Barbara A. Mikulskifailed to clear a procedural vote in the Senate on Tuesday, ending the measure's chances but opening a potential Democratic attack line in this year's election. The Paycheck Fairness Act, which would have expanded the 1963 Equal Pay Act by prohibiting employers from firing workers who discuss their salary with their colleagues, fell seven votes shy of the 60 needed to bring the legislation to the Senate floor.

YVETTE MIKULSKI 39, passed away Friday, Dec 12, 2008, at 1:42 A.M. at Union Memorial Hospital . Yvette was born on July 13, 1969. In her final moments Yvette was surrounded by the people who loved her. She was raised in Hampden and spent all of her life amongst her many friends. Here she also took care of her mom Yvonne Mikulski and grandmom Sarah Solomon until they both passed away. Yvette was a great person with a heart of gold. Yvette was loved by many friends and family. She is survived by her brother Tim Mikulski of Arizona , her Uncle Albert Solomon of Florida , her cousins Nina Friel of New Jersey , David Solomon of Florida , and Laura Dieter of Pennsylvania . Yvette was a great sister and friend and will be missed by all. Any condolences can be sent to: tim.mikulski yahoo.

Sen. Barbara Mikulskiwas recently honored as the longest-serving woman in Congress. I do not find this cause for celebration. Congress was not meant to be a life-long job. Career politicians like Ms. Mikulski, on both sides of the aisle, are a large part of the problem in Washington. Term limits need to be imposed. Patricia Turlington, Cockeysville

The U.S. Coast Guard's shipyard in Curtis Bay has signed an agreement to provide ship maintenance over the next five years for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Atlantic fleet. The new memorandum of understanding, announced Tuesday by Sen. Barbara Mikulski's office, extends an existing partnership between the Coast Guard and the NOAA, which studies changes in the environment for the federal government. Under the agreement, the NOAA said it expects to send at least one of its nine Atlantic ships to the yard per year for maintenance, though the agency may also contract with private-sector shipyards if the work would be less expensive.

Two Maryland lawmakers joined Amtrak and Obama administration officials at Penn Station on Monday morning to call for long-term federal funding of transportation projects — pointing to Baltimore's 141-year-old passenger rail tunnel as a prime example of the need. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, both Democrats, said Congress needs to get beyond its recent habit of enacting short-term extensions of federal transportation funding and pass legislation providing a predicable flow of money for long-term, big-ticket projects.

A recent report on the violence in Gaza refers to Hamas' demand that Israel end its blockade of Gaza but neglects to mention that this is not a demand from Hamas alone ( "Israel says truce over after soldier apparently captured," Aug. 1). For years, the International Committee of the Red Cross has called the blockade "collective punishment imposed in clear violation of Israel's obligations under international humanitarian law. " Israeli human rights organizations have also spoken against Israel's closures of the Gaza Strip.

WASHINGTON -- Citing "very serious" concerns about the project's impact on Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski included language in a military spending bill that would delay the construction of a massive wind farm on the Eastern Shore. The provision, if approved, would halt the project despite efforts by Gov. Martin O'Malley this year to move it forward. O'Malley, a fellow Democrat, vetoed state legislation in May that would have imposed a 15-month moratorium on the construction of land-based wind farms.

Since U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski and Gov. Martin O'Malley support bringing in the neighborhood of 1,800 illegal immigrant children to Maryland and requesting funds to support that effort ( "Faith leaders renew call for foster families for immigrants," July 28), my question to both is this: How many of these children do you plan to adopt, support and raise in your home? Felicia Farace, Baltimore - To respond to this letter, send an email to talkback@baltimoresun.com . Please include your name and contact information.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski joined with Virginia lawmakers on Friday in requesting the Obama administration step up enforcement of seafood processors that are fraudulently labeling imported crab meat as a product of the Chesapeake Bay. In a letter to President Barack Obama, Mikulski asked that deceptive labeling be included as a focus of a task force created by the White House in June to address illegal fishing. The Maryland Democrat also requested a briefing on the issue from federal agencies.

When Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski was a young activist determined to stop a bridge through neighborhoods, she became our voice of the people in Baltimore. Why now has she stopped and succumbed to that which she once deplored? Obamacare is the latest of the politically motivated choices she has embraced. Please listen to the people. Health care is not a right. Health care is an incentive to pay attention in school, work toward promotion, etc. And what about this elite class Congress has created for itself?

On her website, Sen. Barbara Mikulski proclaims that she is joining other senators to introduce a "legislative fix to protect women's health" following the Supreme Court's recent decision in the Hobby Lobby case. Whether you are for abortion or against abortion, whether you think your employer should cover all birth control or not, whether you are a women or a man, this bill should bother you. Why? Because our Founding Fathers created three branches of government to check and balance each other.

The federal government will run out of money to deal with the influx of Central American children crossing the U.S. border illegally this summer if lawmakers fail to approve $3.7 billion in emergency funds, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told a Senate panel Thursday. Meanwhile, federal officials planned to assess a former Army Reserve site in Westminster as a possible shelter for some of the children, according to a document obtained by The Baltimore Sun. The Obama administration has considered - and rejected - three other sites in Maryland.